Redraft 1989

Interestingly enough, scouts at the time were aware of how talented Pavel Bure was, and after he was drafted, many felt he was the most talented player selected that year. The issue was that nobody except Vancouver knew he was eligible, plus the Soviet factor made it questionable whether he would ever play in the NHL. Here's an excerpt from a Pittsburgh Gazette article written on June 15, 1989:

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheNudge

That s why there calling the best draft for a team. Could you imagine if Detroit would have gotten Bure with the 6th round instead of vancouver. Now Bure would of score soo much.

Detroit attempted to draft Bure in the 5th round instead of Shawn McCosh. But Detroit was not ALLOWED to draft Bure, being told he was ineligible. Vancouver then drafted him the following round; there was a serious argument about it but the league decided in Vancouver's favor.

Detroit attempted to draft Bure in the 5th round instead of Shawn McCosh. But Detroit was not ALLOWED to draft Bure, being told he was ineligible. Vancouver then drafted him the following round; there was a serious argument about it but the league decided in Vancouver's favor.

Stupid Astards.

While that whole fiasco was stupid, Detroit selected Sillinger and Boughner instead of Bure in the first two rounds.

While that whole fiasco was stupid, Detroit selected Sillinger and Boughner instead of Bure in the first two rounds.

And Vancouver's only other NHLer from that draft was the immortal Sandy Moger.

Sillinger and Boughner were solid NHLers - at times a top-six forward and top-four defenseman, respectively. Detroit was left with Shawn McCosh instead of Bure; McCosh was their only pick in the first 6 rounds who didn't make a significant NHL impact.

And Vancouver's only other NHLer from that draft was the immortal Sandy Moger.

Sillinger and Boughner were solid NHLers - at times a top-six forward and top-four defenseman, respectively. Detroit was left with Shawn McCosh instead of Bure; McCosh was their only pick in the first 6 rounds who didn't make a significant NHL impact.

thank you for putting Vlad where i think he belongs.

I did not know this about Bure, and I am butterfly-effecting Bure onto those Red Wings.... my god.

Do Sakic and Forsberg still have a big rep as winners, or do they just not get to the Cup at all?

Is Bure's legacy as a winner completely different?

Do Marty Brodeur and co. get as many Cups?

Detroit's rep as mid 90's chokers?

Does the mid 90's and on focus on building a team around a goalie not come as heavily into play if Detroit wins 2 more Cups, and do GM's lean more towards still building high-flying teams, as Detroit would resemble a 90's version of the Dynasty Oilers?

Iím going to assume that your list is a solid starting point and that you havenít forgotten anyone. Aside from the second inclusion of Brisebois.

I can get on board with that top-5. Foote and Guerin over Kolzig, though.
Draper moves up over Irbe.
Barnes over Brisebois, and Drake over Dafoe, Malakhov and Brisebois.
Zamuner over Woolley, then weíre set.

I did not know this about Bure, and I am butterfly-effecting Bure onto those Red Wings.... my god.

Do Sakic and Forsberg still have a big rep as winners, or do they just not get to the Cup at all?

Is Bure's legacy as a winner completely different?

Do Marty Brodeur and co. get as many Cups?

Detroit's rep as mid 90's chokers?

Does the mid 90's and on focus on building a team around a goalie not come as heavily into play if Detroit wins 2 more Cups, and do GM's lean more towards still building high-flying teams, as Detroit would resemble a 90's version of the Dynasty Oilers?

maybe i just have my homer glasses on, but i never got the sense that bure was thought of as not a winner. i mean, he didn't a lot, but in the small number of big game situations he was in, he usually came up big. unless you mean whether bure on the wings would have been vaulted into the forsberg/fedorov category, which on that team i can certainly see happening-- provided bowman lets him be detroit's version of lafleur.

re: sakic and forsberg, even if the red wings sweep all the cups and are a dynasty, remember that they both would still have legendary olympic gold medal-winning performances for the reps.

but a very interesting question about NJ. if you added bure, would they have beaten the wings in '95? that was a deep and balanced devils team with a wealth of good-to-great checking forwards and stevens playing out of his mind. but paul coffey feeding bure breakaway passes? could that be stopped?

I should have said bad depth to the class, which was my thought. First couple picks are fine, its when you get past the top 5 picks and hit Osgood at number 8 and 11 is when theres trouble.

He was a good enough goalie. Not a game breaker. Reminds me of Neimi in the way that he had good enough teams in front of him that he just had to screw up less then the other goalie. Only difference between him and Neimi is that Osgood was the starter for one more Cup then Neimi.[/B]

maybe i just have my homer glasses on, but i never got the sense that bure was thought of as not a winner. i mean, he didn't a lot, but in the small number of big game situations he was in, he usually came up big. unless you mean whether bure on the wings would have been vaulted into the forsberg/fedorov category, which on that team i can certainly see happening-- provided bowman lets him be detroit's version of lafleur.

re: sakic and forsberg, even if the red wings sweep all the cups and are a dynasty, remember that they both would still have legendary olympic gold medal-winning performances for the reps.

but a very interesting question about NJ. if you added bure, would they have beaten the wings in '95? that was a deep and balanced devils team with a wealth of good-to-great checking forwards and stevens playing out of his mind. but paul coffey feeding bure breakaway passes? could that be stopped?

oh, I agree with you about Bure, and the other two. It wouldn't change how I feel about them. Take Ovechkin nowadays - if he never wins a cup, but continues to play his ass off and produce in the playoffs, I will consider him a 'gamer', or 'winner'.

I just meant public perception in the hockey world. People count Cups.

Detroit attempted to draft Bure in the 5th round instead of Shawn McCosh. But Detroit was not ALLOWED to draft Bure, being told he was ineligible. Vancouver then drafted him the following round; there was a serious argument about it but the league decided in Vancouver's favor.

Stupid Astards.

Mike Penny, then a scout with the Canucks actually went to Bure's games and presented proof as to Bure's eligibility.

According to Penny the only other scout actively tracking and getting copies of game sheets was a Washington one but he missed (I think it was a Xmas day one out of the way that Penny borrowed a car and drove to and saw no other NHL scouts at) this game and Penny had the right amount of games to make Bure eligible.

the rest was history.

There is no doubt with current scouting reports that Bure and Federov would have went 1,2 in that draft IMO.

Osgood? Really? I thought we were talking about the 1989 draft. Osgood was drafted in the 3rd round (54th overall) of the 1991 NHL draft.

Secondly, this debate about Osgood is pointless. No matter what arguement you support or side with, your never going to convince the eachother that your point of view is correct. Wait and see what the NHL thinks on if he's nominated to the HHOF.

Detroit attempted to draft Bure in the 5th round instead of Shawn McCosh. But Detroit was not ALLOWED to draft Bure, being told he was ineligible. Vancouver then drafted him the following round; there was a serious argument about it but the league decided in Vancouver's favor.

Stupid Astards.

Really? Seems kind of unfair/odd that other franchise get penalized over other.

Osgood? Really? I thought we were talking about the 1989 draft. Osgood was drafted in the 3rd round (54th overall) of the 1991 NHL draft.

Secondly, this debate about Osgood is pointless. No matter what arguement you support or side with, your never going to convince the eachother that your point of view is correct. Wait and see what the NHL thinks on if he's nominated to the HHOF.

Why does it matter what the NHL thinks? It's not the NHL Hall of Fame.

Mike Penny, then a scout with the Canucks actually went to Bure's games and presented proof as to Bure's eligibility.

According to Penny the only other scout actively tracking and getting copies of game sheets was a Washington one but he missed (I think it was a Xmas day one out of the way that Penny borrowed a car and drove to and saw no other NHL scouts at) this game and Penny had the right amount of games to make Bure eligible.

the rest was history.

There is no doubt with current scouting reports that Bure and Federov would have went 1,2 in that draft IMO.

Absolutely right. Mike Penny explains at 3:34 of the following video:

While Detroit may have tried to draft Bure earlier, only the Canucks had proof he was eligible. Pavel single-handedly made Vancouver one of the premier teams to watch in the league, and inspired a great number of people to become fans of the team. He brought stardom to the lineup, and was the key to converting British Columbia into Canucks nation. The team had fans already, but when he arrived on the scene, the fanbase grew exponentially. Without him, I'm not sure what the Canucks' fate as a franchise would have been in the 1990s.

If Detroit had successfully drafted him, Pavel's career would have transcended anything he could have accomplished in Vancouver. With the talent on the Wings' roster, he would have pushed them over the top and would have helped bring even more success to the franchise. His point totals would have reached even greater heights, and he would have contributed to the team's Stanley Cup success. Most importantly, I think he would have remained healthy and would have experienced a lengthy career that may have spanned into the current decade. Would Bure still be in the NHL a la Jagr and Selanne if he were healthy? There is a good chance of that, certainly. The numbers he could have accomplished throughout his career would have been phenomenal. As a Canucks fan, I think the worst thing to happen to him was to be drafted by the Canucks.

With the addition of a Stanley Cup victory in 1995 or 1996, the Wings would no doubt be considered one of hockey's great dynasties, and Bure likely would have been a multiple Stanley Cup champion. How many more cups they could have won is something to think about.

His career would have been entirely different had the Wings drafted him, and there is no question in my mind that he would have easily cemented himself as one of the top players of all time. Nobody would need to be convinced that he was a superb player.

I also want to point out that by 1990, it was widely known that Pavel was considered to be the best player available, thus making him a serious contender to be drafted first overall in 1990 if he had not been taken by Vancouver in 1989 already. As indicated in the Pittsburgh Post Gazette article in the post above, scouts already thought very highly of him before the 1989 draft. He may very well have been the first overall pick in 1990, though the Soviet factor still had a huge influence on when Russian players were selected.

That's because Pavel Bure, a 19-year-old Soviet considered to be one of the best if not the best junior player in the world, has suddenly been made available in a draft already surrounded with intrigue and intense speculation.

Bure, drafted 113th over-all last year by Vancouver Canucks, was abruptly taken away from the Canucks this week by National Hockey League president John Ziegler after an investigation that took a mere 11 months to conduct. The rules involved are complicated, but the upshot is that under NHL law Bure had to be drafted in the first three rounds, and he wasn't taken by Vancouver until the sixth. He can be selected in any of the 12 rounds this year.

Some scouts say there are rumblings from the U.S.S.R. that younger players will increasingly become available to NHL teams, at somewhat more than bargain basement prices, of course. The continuing need for hard currency by the Soviets combined with the successful recall of Soviet NHLers for this year's world championship could work in the favor of any team that takes a gamble on Bure.

Also, if memory serves me correct Joe Sakic was paid 18 million dollars in one year after the Avs signed the Rangers frontloaded offer sheet.

Fedorov received $28m. The $14m figure does not include the $14m conference finals bonus that was in his contract for the first season (intended by the Hurricanes to scare off the Red Wings, who had a much greater chance of making the conference finals and actually did win the Cup).